1 Goldgulden - John George II Fuchs of Dornheim

John George II Fuchs von Dornheim became Prince-Bishop of Bamberg in 1623 and within a decade had executed over three hundred people as witch trials consumed the diocese — one of the most concentrated episodes of persecution in German history. This gulden dates to virtually the first full year of his reign, before the Hexenbischof, the "Witch Bishop," had fully consolidated his grip on the territory. The Thirty Years' War was already two years old when this piece was struck, and Bamberg's mint was working under considerable fiscal pressure to fund both military obligations and the new bishop's ambitions.